Indian Teen Threatens to Blow Up Miami Airport after Losing Bitcoin

2018/11/06/ 10:06

An 18-year old Indian teen has threatened to blow up Miami International Airport (MIA) as a retaliatory move for the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI’s uncooperative stance to help him track down an American fraudster who duped him of $1,000 worth of bitcoin on a popular online forum.

Based on reports on local news outlet Hindustan Times, the unnamed 18-year old boy from Northern state Uttar Pradesh had made several calls to the FBI to lodge a complaint about a bitcoin deal that went awry. When he felt he wasn’t going to get the help he needed, he called up Miami airport and threatened to blow it up. He had reportedly handed over his investment to an unnamed individual he met on an online forum, who had assured the teenager he could help him make profits through a bitcoin deal, the report had stated.

The news outlet quoted Uttar Pradesh director general of police (DGP) OP Singh who said there were no immediate plans to arrest or reveal the culprit’s identity, as he was “was just 18 years and three months old.” Not satisfied with the FBI’s response to his predicament, he made “five calls to Miami airport authorities, threatening to attack the airport by barging into it equipped with an AK-47 assault rifle, grenades, and a suicide belt,” the DGP added.

The FBI had approached India’s National Investigation Agency after the teen’s call to Miami’s airport. The boy told the police that he taken his father’s funds, who run an NGO, to invest in Bitcoins. Having earned huge profits over the previous period, he had handed his investment to a fraudster on an online forum who promised him more profits, according to the reports.

The teenager has been charged under the Indian Penal Code and the IT Act. The Indian Penal Code was slapped on him for impersonating someone else and for issuing threats against the Miami airport, while the IT Act was for making calls over the internet to foreign authorities.

In other related news, a panel set up by India’s finance ministry to propose a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies is set to recommend a state-backed cryptocurrency. According to the reports, the panel will also advise the government to conduct research into the distributed ledger technology and how it can benefit the nation.